Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to equipment for filling mobile tanks, and in particular, to an automatic truck tank fill system.
Description of Related Art
Many industrial vehicles that use water often have water storage tanks attached to them. Such industrial vehicles include water trucks for street cleaning, fire trucks, and cement concrete trucks. Typically, these trucks are filled manually by an operator, usually the driver of the truck. The operator must remain at the truck while the truck is being filled with water in order to stop the water flow whenever the operator sees that the tank is full. Oftentimes, that individual will become distracted and allow the tank to overflow. The water used to fill these tanks is usually classified as processed water and, thus, any runoff is not cost effective. Also, processed water running off into the ground is usually considered an environmental risk. Reducing the amount of processed water runoff will, in turn, reduce treatment costs associated with clean-up of the runoff water, thereby lowering water contaminant volumes and, thus, the possibility of EPA-generated questions concerning water runoff.
Typically, automatic truck tank fill systems are not used because the truck is movable. Also, filling a truck tank may take a considerable amount of time. If an operator does not monitor the filling of the truck tank, it is very common in the industry that movable trucks will take off with the hose attachments still in place, thereby damaging the water refill system and/or truck. This usually occurs when the operator of the fill system is not the driver of the truck.
Another problem with the automatic fill type system occurs when the tank is full. Generally speaking, if the tank is full and the fill system keeps pumping water, the tank pressure could become dangerously high and cause the tank to fail. Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a safety mechanism to the system to prevent such a dangerous situation.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,681,815 is directed to an automatic truck tank fill system that includes an arrangement to automatically shut off the flow of material to a truck tank. The entire contents of U.S. Pat. No. 6,681,815 are incorporated herein by reference.